CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- An emotional Michael Jordan unveiled the first of two medical clinics he and his family funded in Charlotte, North Carolina, that will provide care to underprivileged members of the community.

The six-time NBA champion and Hornets owner was on hand Thursday for the grand opening of the $7 million Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic. Tears streamed down Jordan's cheeks as he said, "this is a very emotional thing for me to be able to give back to a community that has supported me over the years."

"I can only do this in gratitude... I can never repay what you've actually given to me, but this is a start." - Michael Jordan, Hornets Chairman & Owner https://t.co/xzsOCvpMPK

— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 17, 2019

The clinic, located in a lower-income section of the city, will provide vital access to primary and preventive care to individuals in the community, including those who are uninsured or underinsured.

Jordan vowed to do more, saying "this is just the start of a battle of being able to touch as many people as we can."

Jordan first announced the $7 million gift in 2017.

In NBA.com's annual survey of the league's 30 general managers, Giannis Antetokounmpo was again picked to be the MVP, the Los Angeles Clippers were tabbed to win their first championship and Zion Williamson was crowned the league's most athletic player before ever taking part in a regular-season game.

Antetokounmpo, who won his first MVP award last season after leading the Milwaukee Bucks to 60 wins and a spot in the Eastern Conference finals, was selected by more than half of respondents to the survey, which was made up of 50 questions that were submitted to each of the league's 30 front offices, to claim the award again this season. His 52 percent share of the vote made him the only player to receive more than 10 percent -- which is where Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard all wound up.

Antetokounmpo's place as the game's emerging young star also was solidified by 86 percent of applicants saying they'd pick him if they had the option of starting a team from scratch -- dramatically higher than the 30 percent who picked him last year. Only Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic, who each garnered seven percent of the vote, even received votes besides him.

Meanwhile, the LA Clippers were rewarded for their busy summer, which saw them land both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, on a variety of fronts. The Clippers were not only picked as having the best overall offseason (82 percent) and making the single-most important move (signing Leonard, 67 percent), but as a result were tapped as the team most likely to be holding up the Larry O'Brien Trophy next June by 46 percent of voters.

That put the Clippers ahead of ahead of the Bucks at 36 percent and the Los Angeles Lakers, after adding Davis this summer themselves, at 11 percent. Both the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers also received championship votes.

The fact four Western Conference teams were picked to potentially win the title, compared to just Milwaukee in the East, also reflected something else that carried through the survey: that the East is essentially a two-horse race, while the West is wide-open.

Only two teams -- Milwaukee and the Philadelphia 76ers -- were picked to come out of the East by voters, with Milwaukee garnering 76 percent compared to Philadelphia's 24 percent. The Boston Celtics were the only other team in the East to even get a second-place vote.

In the West, meanwhile, six different teams -- the Clippers (66 percent), Lakers (14 percent), Warriors and Houston Rockets (seven percent), Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets (three percent) -- each earned at least one vote to make it to the Finals this season.

By comparison, both the Celtics and Warriors earned 90 percent of the votes in each conference a year ago.

Williamson, on the other hand, continues to gain plaudits and praise amid an impressive preseason for the New Orleans Pelicans. The top overall pick in June's NBA draft earned 68 percent of the votes to be named the league's Rookie of the Year, with Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland being the only other players to receive a vote.

He also received 68 percent of the vote for which player from this year's draft class will be the best five years from now, with Morant (18 percent), Atlanta Hawks forward Cam Reddish (seven percent), Garland and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jarrett Culver also receiving votes. Williamson's teammate, Nickiel Alexander-Walker, was also tapped as the biggest steal of the draft by 32 percent of respondents, ahead of Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke (21 percent), Indiana Pacers center Goga Bitadze (11 percent), Denver Nuggets center Bol Bol and Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (seven percent each).

Williamson (41 percent) and Antetokounmpo (28 percent) were also the only players to receive more than 10 percent of votes for being the league's most athletic player.

Across individual positions, Curry, James Harden, Leonard, Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic were picked as the best player at each one -- though LeBron James finish with one vote at point guard, 24 percent of the vote at small forward and 10 percent at power forward. Leonard was tapped as the league's best defensive player, while he and George were picked as its two best perimeter defenders and Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was overwhelmingly picked as its best interior stopper.

Among coaches, Gregg Popovich was named the league's best coach by 55 percent of voters, followed by Erik Spoelstra, Mike Budenholzer and Steve Kerr, with Steve Clifford, Doc Rivers and Quin Snyder also getting votes. Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who had 47 percent of the vote to lead all coaches last year, received none this time around after Boston's disappointing season a year ago.

Rick Carlisle was picked as the best at making in-game adjustments, while Kerr was credited with having the best offensive schemes, and Snyder the best defensive ones.

Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard was deemed the league's best leader, while Antetokounmpo edged out James for being its most versatile player. James once again was tapped as the player with the highest basketball IQ, while Curry was selected as the one who GMs would want shooting with the game on the line.

World heptathlon champion set to compete at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix, Anniversary Games and Gateshead Grand Prix in 2020

Fresh from winning world heptathlon gold in Doha, Katarina Johnson-Thompson has confirmed that she will compete at three world-class events in the UK next year: the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow, the Müller Anniversary Games and the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead.

With all eyes turning to Tokyo and the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the British record-holder will kick-start her year in Scotland at the Indoor Grand Prix on February 15.

Come the summer, the 26-year-old will head to London to compete at the  Anniversary Games on July 4 and 5, with an appearance at the Müller Grand Prix in Gateshead coming after the Olympic Games on August 16.

“It’s amazing to know I’ve got three great events and some real testing competition in the diary for 2020,” said Johnson-Thompson, who scored her British record tally of 6981 points to take the heptathlon title in Qatar.

“I’m really looking forward to performing in front of British crowds, with the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow and Müller Anniversary Games being vital preparation for the Olympics.”

She added: “The support I received from back home both during and after my competition in Doha was crazy. It really shows how lucky I am to compete for Britain and that the British fans really are the best in the world.

“It’s going to be amazing to compete on home soil on three occasions in 2020, with these fans cheering us all on.”

British Athletics 2020 events

Indoor

Müller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow: Emirates Arena, Glasgow – February 15
SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships: Emirates Arena, Glasgow – February 22 & 23

Outdoor

Müller British Athletics Championships: Sportcity, Manchester – June 20 & 21
Müller Anniversary Games: London Stadium, London – July 4 & 5
Müller Grand Prix Gateshead – Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead – August 16

Tickets are currently on sale for the indoor season at britishathletics.org.uk/events-and-tickets

Because of deep fields, fairly equal equipment and  the incredible reliability of its cars and engines, this may be the most competitive era in Indy car racing history.

Unlike the old days when many of the longer races were decided by attrition, some of today’s NTT IndyCar Series events are run without a caution period and nearly every car that starts the race finishes.

That puts extra emphasis on the pit crew because when drivers at the front of the field are running relatively the same speed, a fast pit stop can be the difference between winning and losing.

Jim Clark’s victory in the 1965 Indianapolis 500 was aided when the Ford Motor Co. brought NASCAR’s famed Wood Brothers Racing team to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to perform the pit stops for Clark and team owner Colin Chapman’s Ford-powered Lotus.

The Wood Brothers crew was the fastest on pit road in NASCAR and brought some of its ideas to the Indy 500, including shortening the fuel hoses so the fuel would run quicker down the gravity fed lines. At that time, the wheels were changed with one wheel nut that was tightened and loosened by a knockoff hammer. The car itself was lifted off the ground by “quick-lift” jack stands.

“Back then, you were worried about trying to shave off a second or two,” explained Team Penske IndyCar General Manager Kyle Moyer. “Now, you are trying to shave off a tenth of a second.

“You are always looking for the edge. You look at wheel guns back when I started in 1980 and they were antiques. Even the air jacks,” Moyer said. “The car itself, the hubs, the way it holds the wheel nut now with the magnets in the splines and everything, you are looking at a tenth of a second. For every tenth of a second, that’s a half a car.

“If you can get two of those, you can pass a car on pit lane.”

Moyer is in charge of all three Team Penske entries in the NTT IndyCar Series and calls race strategy for Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud.

To illustrate the importance of pit stops in IndyCar and how they are different than NASCAR and IMSA, let’s focus on Pagenaud’s crew.

Moyer serves as the strategist and works in conjunction with engineer Ben Bretzman on formulating race strategy. Trevor Lacasse is the team’s crew chief and he also changes the outside-front tire. The inside front is changed by Trey Williams with Doug Snyder changing the inside-rear tire and Jeremy Baker handling the outside rear tire. Ben Maser handles the air jack and Eric Crabtree is the fueler. Mike Ford serves as the spotter for the No. 22 Chevrolet.

“It’s a bit different,” Moyer noted. “We can see what NASCAR does because they are in the same building. Because of their 36 weekends, their crew is mainly an on-the-road crew. They work on the cars at the track and maybe a day before they leave.

“In IndyCar, our crew is different. For instance, Pocono to St. Louis, on Monday morning, the actual guys that are here on race weekends are the guys that work on the car at the shop. That’s the biggest difference in some series compared to IndyCar.

“The other part is every single guy on the crew is a mechanic or an engineer,” Moyer added. “They are the guys doing the pit stops as well. A lot of crews bring in guys that do nothing but the pit stops. That’s the difference between us and other series.”

NASCAR teams recruit former college football players and even ex-National Football League players to serve as the over-the-wall pit crew members. They are responsible for pit stops only and most of them do not work on the car as mechanics.

“On the NASCAR side, they are all pit crew guys that train every single day,” Moyer said. “Eighty percent of their job is to be a pit crew guy. On our side, on a normal weekend, we will get 21 seconds of work out of them on pit road and the other 21 hours of work we get out of them working on the car will be as a mechanic.”

As the crew chief, Lacasse has the responsibility of putting the car together with the setup devised by the engineering staff, working with the driver and then putting on the fire suit and helmet and performing his duties on pit road.

“Comparing us to NAS­CAR, we have to be the shop crew, the road crew, the pit crew and everything else,” Lacasse explained. “NAS­CAR is a lot more specialized. They are not at the shop, on the road, changing tires. They are either college athletes, ex-NFL, they are working out changing tires. They are pretty big time.”

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Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac has backtracked on his recent comments about Thomas Muller, calling them a "mistake."

Muller, 30, has not started any of Bayern's last five games, and prior to the club's last Bundesliga match -- a 2-1 home defeat to Hoffenheim -- Kovac suggested in an interview the striker would only get playing time in the future if other players were unavailable.

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"That was my mistake," Kovac said in a news conference ahead of his side's Bundesliga trip to local rivals Augsburg.

"I should have expressed myself better, but I already proved myself wrong when bringing him on as a substitute.

"I chatted to Thomas the next day and we are all good."

Just days after the defeat to Hoffenheim, Muller -- a senior figure in the Bayern dressing room -- said he was "too ambitious" for the Bayern bench amid rumours he could seek a transfer this winter or next summer.

And when asked how he would cope with Muller's discontent in the coming days and weeks, Kovac said: "Just very objectively. We've talked about this. No matter which player -- it's not about one, but about many here at FC Bayern."

Kovac would not guarantee the former Germany international more playing time, however.

"Whoever does not play will not be happy. It's like this at other clubs too.

"But every Bundesliga coach, and that includes me, must make the same decision time and time again. I can only field eleven players.

"We will always try to find the best decision for the moment and there will always be cases of hardship. That's the fate of a coach. Whatever he does, for the most part it's not right."

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has said he is always blamed when things go wrong at Arsenal, but that he will remain at the club until "at least 2021."

The former Germany international has struggled for game time this season, making just one Premier League and one Carabao Cup performance and not yet completing a full 90 minutes, but has insisted he will try to prove himself at the Emirates, rather than looking for minutes elsewhere.

"When I signed the new deal, I thought about it very carefully and said it was one of the most important decisions of my footballing career," Ozil told The Athletic.

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"I didn't want to stay for just one or two more years, I wanted to commit my future to Arsenal and the club wanted me to do the same.

"You can go through difficult times, like this, but that is no reason to run away and I'm not going to. I'm here until at least 2021.

"When I moved from Real Madrid, it was a really tough time for Arsenal, but I always believed in what we could do and together we delivered. More recently things have been difficult and a lot has changed, but I'm proud to be an Arsenal player, a fan and I'm happy here. Whenever people see me in the street I always say, 'This is my home.' I'm going nowhere."

While Arsenal manager Unai Emery has said Ozil's limited game time this season has occurred because other players "deserve it more," Ozil said he has no problem with the Spaniard.

"All I know is what has already been said," he said. "It's disappointing, of course, but as a professional footballer, I have to respect the decision of the coach. This should not be about me or the coach, only the club."

The 31-year-old, who signed for Arsenal in 2013, has at times come under scrutiny for his performances at the north London club, particularly in so-called big games, but said the criticism was largely unjust.

"It always happens that an ex-player stands there on TV and criticises me," he said. "Others just continue the theme and it gets in everyone's heads.

"If we don't do well in a 'big' game, it's always my fault. If that's true, how do you explain our results in the 'big' games when I wasn't involved? There's no real difference.

"I know people expect me to offer more, dictate play and make the difference -- I do, too -- but it's not that straightforward. I'm not the only player in the team and, don't forget, some of our opponents are simply better than us.

"Also, what is a 'big' or 'small' game? In the Premier League, anyone can beat anyone. Look at Wolves and Norwich beating Man City, or Newcastle and West Ham beating Man United. So you can't say my good performances only came in 'small' games, because these games don't really exist."